A loyal friend to rely on
by Moonlightpool
Summary: A young apprentice follows the path of a warrior, that reveals her shadowed past, with a loyal friend at her side every pawstep of the way.This is the story of Hawkpaw, warrior to-be.I don't own Warriors Erin hunter does.
1. Lightening Clan

**Lightening Clan**

**Leader:** Lighteningstar- Light ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes

**Deputy:** Thunderclaw- Dark ginger she-cat with light ginger paws and green eyes

**Medicine Cat:** Dawnleaf- Light gray tabby she-cat with soft amber eyes- Moonpaw

**Warriors:**

Tigerstorm- Large light tabby she-cat with gold eyes

Lionstrike- Golden ginger tom with blue eyes and white chest- Honeypaw

Hazelwind- Tawny she-cat with white splotches and blue eyes- Sunpaw

Sandstripe- Light ginger she-cat with blue eyes and light ginger paws

Grayclaw- Dark gray tom with white tail

Blacksmoke- Smokey black tom with jet-black paws and green eyes- Nightpaw

Cloudslash- White tom with green eyes and a tawny slash mark down his face

Dewriver- Small gray she-cat with dark blue eyes- Stormpaw

Featherblaze- Silver she-cat with white paws- Silverpaw

Smokeclaw- Light gray tom with dark gray paws and amber eyes

Falconwind- Huge light brown tabby tom with dark green eyes-Hawkpaw

**Hunters:**

Streampool- Small silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Swiftnight- Fast black tom with pale green eyes- Windpaw

Blossompetal- Gentle tortoiseshell she-cat with light blue eyes

Petalwind- Light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Scorchlight- Flame-pelted tom with amber eyes

Firetail- Dark ginger tom with pale yellow eyes- Streampaw

Heatherstreak- Very pale tabby she-cat with light blue eyes

Crowbreeze- Dark gray tom with white paws- Robinpaw

Silverbeam- Light silver she-cat with green eyes

Twilightpelt-Very pale gray tom with dark gray splotches and amber eyes- Snakepaw

**Apprentices:**

Moonpaw- medicine cat apprentice- small sliver she-cat with light blue eyes

Honeypaw- warrior apprentice- sturdy dark cream she-cat with yellow eyes

Sunpaw- warrior apprentice- light ginger tom with blue eyes

Nightpaw-warrior apprentice-swift black tom with amber eyes

Stormpaw-warrior apprentice- dark gray tom with green eyes

Silverpaw- warrior apprentice- silver she-cat with amber eyes

Hawkpaw- warrior apprentice- powerful dark brown tabby she-cat with ice-blue eyes

Windpaw- hunter apprentice- fast brown tom with amber eyes

Streampaw- hunter apprentice- small silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes and dark gray stripes

Robinpaw- hunter apprentice- gray tom with a white chest and dark ginger ears

Snakepaw- hunter apprentice- brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

**Queens:**

Morningdew- Tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes- Hazletkit and Jetkit mate- Smokeclaw

Dawnwind- Light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes- Snowkit and Eagle kit- mate-Crowbreeze

Icepelt- Snow white she-cat with amber eyes- Blazekit, Berrykit, and Mousekit- mate- Grayclaw

Blossomflower- Tawny she-cat with white paws- Breezekit, and Graykit- mate- Firetail


	2. Chapter 1 Stormpaw

"Hawkpaw, wake up. It's time to secure the borders. Hawkpaw!" A small, but muscular dark gray tom almost faded into the showed den, as he poked a dark tabby she-cat with a firm paw. His dark green eyes were firm, but contained some amusement, when his Clan mate groaned, and heaved herself to her paws. Her ice-blue eyes were still half closed, but she shook the leaves and grass off of her pelt and stretched.

"Alright, I'm up! Happy, you annoying fur ball!" Hawkpaw snapped, obviously not happy about being woken up, but she playfully butted Stormpaw with her head, as she rushed out of the cave, that the apprentices used as a den. He hissed playfully, and followed her. Stormpaw was a 9-moon old warrior apprentice, while his sister, Streampaw was a skilled hunter. She had been an apprentice for 10 moons, even though they were the same age. Hunters were always apprenticed early, but they took longer to actually become a full-fledged hunter of LighteningClan. Stormpaw was only half a moon older than Hawkpaw, and they two were best friends.

"Come on Stormpaw!" He slipped out of the den, when he heard his, trainer's commanding, but soft meow. Dewriver was a skilled warrior, and was an excellent trainer in Stormpaw's point of view, and enjoyed her company. Her small gray form wasn't much larger than Stormpaw's own form, but she had the agility and strength to match Grayclaw, one of the best warriors in the Clan.

"About time you two lazy fur balls woke up. ThunderClan is probably stealing a moon's worth of prey." Hawkpaw's trainer, Falconwind spoke up, his deep meow slightly annoyed. Falconwind was a very powerful warrior, and well respected within the Clan. He was also harsh and sometimes cold-hearted. Stormpaw often wondered how Hawkpaw could stay so cheerful with a cold trainer like Falconwind, even though no cat could doubt his unwavering loyalty. Hawkpaw bristled as her trainer spoke of ThunderClan stealing their prey. ThunderClan was the last of the original Clans. RiverClan had broke up, but had reformed to become RainClan, and LighteningClan was said to have been built, when ShadowClan and WindClan formed together. No one seemed to know how StormClan had come to be.

"What are we doing, standing here! If ThunderClan thinks they can just stroll into our territory and take what they want, they're going to get a shredded pelt!" Hawkpaw exclaimed, jumping to her white paws, and rushing into the forest, all previous drowsiness gone. Falconwind followed her, his whiskers twitching with amusement. Hawkpaw seemed to be the only one that could ease Falconwind out of his cold shell. Dewriver and Stormpaw followed, racing to catch up.

"Now, remember to be careful, Stormpaw. You've done very well in training, but ThunderClan have some old tricks, from before our time." Dewriver cautioned her apprentice, calmly reminding him, that ThunderClan had learned to adapt to the new Clans, but they still used some fighting moves, that the other Clans had long forgotten. Stormpaw nodded, processing her words into his mind.


	3. Chapter 2 ThunderClan thieves

The four cats padded down the worn out path, leading to the ThunderCaln border. Trees shielded them from the blazing sun, the thick branches only allowing a few rays to seep through, to warm the pelts of the warriors. Stormpaw's thick dark gray pelt soaked in the warming light like a sponge. They were moving at a fast rate, eager to reach the large sun-bleached rock that indicated ThunderClan's territory. Stormpaw glanced at his trainer, Dewriver wondering if she was having any trouble. Dewriver had been dangerously injured only one moon ago from a battle with some stays that had been looking for a fight. She had been in the healer's gentle paws the entire time, not allowed to train Stormpaw. Tigerstorm had trained him at that point. He had enjoyed the big tabby tom's company, but had visited Dewriver when he had spare time, and he had hunted for her, ignoring the rule that said that hunters hunt for the Clan. Lighteningstar understood and allowed him to do this, but cautioned him not to make a habit of it. When he looked at her now, she looked the same. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he concreted on the nearing border. Hawkpaw and Falconwind were ahead of them, enough to be out of sight, but Stormpaw could still smell their fresh scent. 

"Thieves! You _have_ been stealing our prey!" Hawkpaw's outraged meow echoed through the dense trees. Stormpaw and Dewriver sprinted to their Clan mates' sides, lips drawn back into a menacing snarl. Hawkpaw was lashing her tail furiously, and her ice-blue eyes blazed, as she slid her long claws in and out. Falconwind looked calmer, but they could all feel the waves of fury coming off of the huge tabby. Three ThunderClan thieves faced them, a dark gray she-cat at the head of them. A small ginger apprentice and a large brown tom flanked her on either side. A fat mouse hung from the apprentice's mouth, the heavenly scent riding the small breeze. Stormpaw bristled and let out a snarled, while Dewriver growled, and took a step forward to step beside Falconwind. 

" The mouse crossed the border. It's ours." The she-cat explained calmly, while the other two, bristled. Her pale yellow eyes were heard, and she glared at Dewriver and then at Falconwind. Stormpaw growled deep in his throat. _Liar! That mouse has LighteningClan scent all over it!_ He thought viciously. Hawkpaw growled as well, and slid her claws out, and stepped forward to face the she-cat. Stormpaw copied her, his fur fluffed up, so he looked twice his normal size. 

"You stole it. The ThunderClan border is back there. You've crossed our border, and stole our prey." Falconwind spoke, his cold voice hard, as if daring the she-cat to deny it. His deep green eyes bore into her gray pelt. He flicked his tail to the large white rock, about 15 feet behind the ThunderClan cats, indicating the border. The she-cat snarled, and the apprentice set down the mouse and whispered something to the brown tom. 

"You are wrong. This is sun-bleached rock. We have many smaller sun-bleached rocks in our territory." The she-cat spoke evenly, but her dark gray was fluffed up with tension. Dewriver snarled, and went over to the rock. Falconwind stayed calm, and kept a watchful gaze on the ThunderClan cats. 

"Lies! This is sun-bleached rock! It has both of our scents on it, and don't tell us, that we marked the wrong rock!" Dewriver hissed, as she inspected the rock. Stormpaw growled with pleasure, as the apprentice sped away, leaving the prey. Falconwind let out a grunt of surprise, as the she-cat pounced on him, and knocked him off his paws. Hawkpaw let out a battle cry and leapt to her trainer's side, slashing at the she-cat. Stormpaw leaped onto the brown tom, landing squarely on his shoulders. Dewriver was there in an instant, knocking him off his paws and Stormpaw jumped off. 

"Graysmoke, we can't win! Let the mouse go!" The tom screeched, as he backed up to avoid Stompaw's lashing claws and Dewriver's snapping jaws. He had lumps of fur on the ground, and a bleeding wound on his side. 

"Never! This ours! We have survived longer than any other Clan, we aren't being destroyed now!" Graysmoke answered, as she clawed at Hawkpaw, her claws meeting Hawkpaw's shoulder. Pale yellow eyes glared at the tabby apprentice, with a fire of hate, it made Stormpaw shudder. Hawkpaw let out a screech of pain, and she attacked the dark gray she-cat, only to be swatted to the side, and pounced on. Falconwind tore away from the brown tom, and streaked over to help his struggling trainee. A flash of white, brown and black fur then distracted Stormpaw. _ThunderClan! The apprentice must have gotten reinforcements! We're outnumbered! Stormpaw thought in horror, as three more cats faced them. _

"_Stormpaw!" Dewriver's pained voice, flashed Stormpaw back into the battle. He looked for her, spotting her gray pelt, under a black warrior. Her dark blue eyes were flaring with the heat of battle. _

"_Stormpaw! Go, get help! Hurry, run!" She gasped as she sprang forward, to slash the tom's muzzle. Stormpaw's paws moved without order, flying over trees and the ground. He was suddenly in LighteningClan camp, explaining what happened, before his mind processed what just happened. Fear gripped him, as he wondered how much time had passed. Was he too late? _


	4. Chapter 3 The battle

"Falconwind! No!" Hawkpaw let out a pained yowl, as a huge white tom, pinned her trainer to the ground, clawing at his pelt. She lashed out at the gray tom; she was battling and streaked over to his side. His deep forest green eyes were flaring with rage, and his claws scored the white tom's pelt. Hawkpaw clawed at the white tom, forcing him to retreat. Falconwind leapt to his paws and raced over to help a pinned down Dewriver. Hawkpaw gasped for breath. Her clawed shoulder screamed with pain, and she was exhausted. The world seemed to spin in front of her eyes. A searing pain ripped at her side, as a gray tom's claws raked down her pelt. Hawkpaw snarled and lashed out at him, ice-blue eyes blazing. Anger lent her energy, as the tom sped away. _Cowards! They steal prey, then fight us, and then get back up only to run away like a kit!_ She thought in disgust, but pleased at the thought, that she could defeat warriors alone. Blood was splattered on the ground, sending up a warm and disgusting smell, that made Hawkpaw sway on her paws.

"Thieves! Get off our territory!" Blacksmoke's battle cry broke up the raging snarls of the ThunderClan cats. Hawkpaw turned to see Blacksmoke, Cloudslash, and Sandstripe, along with Stormpaw, panting behind them. _Stormpaw must have gone back to camp to get help. She thought with relief. The battle was over within moments, the ThunderClan cats hissing as they retreated. Hawkpaw searched the crowd desperately for her trainer, relived to see him, standing up and talking to Blacksmoke. His dark brown tabby pelt was ripped and bloody, but he looked strong. The world spun rapidly and suddenly. Hawkpaw began to feel dizzy and the slash on her shoulder felt like a fire that had been lit on her. All of her other wounds seemed to add to the searing pain, and Hawkpaw gasped before the world went black. She faintly heard the sound of paws pounding towards her, and could hear ghostly voices. She wanted to answer them, wanted to get up and tell them she was okay, but she couldn't. Her stregnth was gone, her energy was a memory from long ago. _

"_I'm okay. Just…tired." Hawkpaw managed to whisper, before it was all black and empty. She could no longer hear the ghostly voices or scent the warm and sticky blood, that she collapsed into. It was all silent._


End file.
